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Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

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Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#11

Post by bluGill »

jstx1 wrote: post #7

Is Google's rate of shutting down products really high or is this some cognitive bias (more headlines, more prominent products, higher number of products in the first place etc.)?

It isn't high directly. However they do tend to shut down a lot of things that others have bought into fully and such people have reason to get mad about it. Often it isn't really feasible to switch away from their products - in this case because your car is directly tied to it.

If Google wants to play in the automotive space they need to have 20 years between announced shutdown and discontinuation, with 5 of those years being for automakers to transition, then the next 15 of support for people who have cars. Move fast and break things doesn't fly in the safety matters world of cars.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#12

Post by m-p-3 »

MrGilbert wrote: post #2

That's... well. Sometimes, timing is bad. I own a 2010 Mazda 6, which comes with bluetooth, but has no display whatsoever. I installed a custom head unit with Apple Car Play. Unfortunately, this head unit became unresponsive every once in a while, and only restarting the car would help. That annoyed the hell out of me. So I went back to the stock experience (it's BOSE after all), and tried to playback audio over blue…

I own a Toyota Corolla from 2017, and even though the system has a head unit with a display, it's not exactly great feature-wise. I'm not sure I want to tamper with the stock head-unit (as some features like setting when the headlights of the car shuts off, etc), and I'm not done making payments on it. Not exactly keen on changing car either, as everything else works great.

First world problem I suppose.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#13

Post by radus »

MrGilbert wrote: post #10
lotsofpulp wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A new head unit sounds like it would solve your problems.

Somehow. But I'm afraid throwing another pile of paper at some of the manufactures (it was a Kenwood unit I had at first) will result in a similar unstable experience. For that, it's too expensive and too much work, as you need to take apart the whole middle part of the interior. Also, a lot of the deeply integrated parts of the audio system will be lost, and also the hands-free communication parts that are in the ca…

I’ve down light research into this and I think it’s possible to maintain all that integration. Might be preferable to have a professional installer do it though.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#14

Post by izacus »

jstx1 wrote: post #7

Is Google's rate of shutting down products really high or is this some cognitive bias (more headlines, more prominent products, higher number of products in the first place etc.)?

They're on the high side, but they are still not as hard as most SV startups.

They do have a horrible habit of rewriting and rebranding products instead of iteratively fixing them. This Auto example is one of them. There's no reason why this transition couldn't be seamless under Auto name - but they instead decided to bleed internal politics into public product strategy.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#15

Post by namelessoracle »

jstx1 wrote: post #7

Is Google's rate of shutting down products really high or is this some cognitive bias (more headlines, more prominent products, higher number of products in the first place etc.)?

Hasn't it been noted that the way you get promoted at Google is participating in launching new products and that they dont really reward good maintenance of existing products?

If so it's just everyone working the incentives.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#16

Post by dmix »

MrGilbert wrote: post #2

That's... well. Sometimes, timing is bad. I own a 2010 Mazda 6, which comes with bluetooth, but has no display whatsoever. I installed a custom head unit with Apple Car Play. Unfortunately, this head unit became unresponsive every once in a while, and only restarting the car would help. That annoyed the hell out of me. So I went back to the stock experience (it's BOSE after all), and tried to playback audio over blue…

It usually takes some time for changes like this to filter down to actual mainstream devices. Unless you’re using a Pixel or something I wouldn’t worry about it for a while. And even then your device has to be using the latest OS at the future date.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#17

Post by jfoster »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

The fact that the situation exists where Google has two products that do the same thing and one of them has the same name as another of their products that does something different is just bad news overall. It's great that this specific instance will be resolved soon but are Google, as an organisation, learning any broader lessons at all?

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#18

Post by scld »

jfoster wrote: post #17
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

The fact that the situation exists where Google has two products that do the same thing and one of them has the same name as another of their products that does something different is just bad news overall. It's great that this specific instance will be resolved soon but are Google, as an organisation, learning any broader lessons at all?

The lesson, I guess, is that if you print money from some other dominant business unit, you don't have to have any other good ideas or execution.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#19

Post by HWR_14 »

izacus wrote: post #14
jstx1 wrote: post #7

Is Google's rate of shutting down products really high or is this some cognitive bias (more headlines, more prominent products, higher number of products in the first place etc.)?

They're on the high side, but they are still not as hard as most SV startups. They do have a horrible habit of rewriting and rebranding products instead of iteratively fixing them. This Auto example is one of them. There's no reason why this transition couldn't be seamless under Auto name - but they instead decided to bleed internal politics into public product strategy.

> They're on the high side, but they are still not as hard as most SV startups.

Google isn't an SV startup. It's the fourth largest company in the world (and one of the three bigger is Saudi Arabia's oil field). It should therefore be judged against other behemoths. And to support products for a reasonable amount of time.

I can still get parts for a 45 year old Toyota directly from the company.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#20

Post by tjungblut »

karolist wrote: post #8
francis-io wrote: post #3

My expirence with Android Auto in my Skoda Fabia 2019 is patchy already. The connection stopped working in the past year for a few months, now it only connects to my in car screen partly, and spotify wont load. I love the idea of keeping in-car entertainment on my mobile, so I can get updates. In practice, my car will get left behind eventually and I'll be stuck with a dumb screen in my dashboard.

Does your car support wireless Android Auto? If not, try switching to a different cable. The push to wireless is because people are having all sorts of problems with patchy cables and then blame it on Android/phone/Google. Too bad only very recent cars support it. Mine does, it works great.

In case it doesn't, I can really recommend AAWireless [1]. I have it in my 2021 Zoe because the cable was quite awkward with my phone and it's super annoying to always plug it in.

[1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aawireless#/

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